NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. It does this through grants and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000 colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations throughout the US.

The rate rose even faster—from 19% to 28%—for the agency's standard research grants. Those trends are most visible in NSF's biology directorate, where demand has tumbled by 50% over the decade and the chances of winning a grant have doubled, from 18% in 2011 to 36% in 2020.

Each Fellowship provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period. For each of the three years of support, NSF provides a $37,000 stipend and $16,000 Cost of Education allowance to the graduate degree-granting institution of higher education for each Fellow who uses the support in a fellowship year.